This present invention relates generally to the art of laying cable along railroad tracks and more particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for securing plow blades used to lay cable to a mobile railroad car platform.
The prior art, to the extent shown, discloses numerous mechanical devices for laying or burying cable along railroad tracks. Movement along the track is provided by a track equipped tractor known generally in the art as a crawler. The invention which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,887 to Helmus discloses such a prior art cable laying apparatus. The present invention is intended to be an improvement over the type of cable laying apparatus disclosed in the prior Helmus patent.
The cable laying apparatus of the type shown in the Helmus patent provides the ability to lay or bury railside cables or conduits without damaging the roadbed and which may be operated within the limited space alongside the tracks which oftentimes does not permit the use of ground-supported, rather than track-supported, equipment, e.g., along steep embankments.
Generally, such a cable laying apparatus incorporates a highly maneuverable earth cutting blade which plows into the earth along the railroad bed and enables cable to be laid at specified depths spaced from the railroad tie ends. Of particular importance in these types of track-mounted cable laying devices is the provision of two blades, one on either side of the track-mounted platform. By providing two blades, it is possible to bury cable or conduit on both sides of a railroad track without having to turn the apparatus around to bury the cable on the other side of the track. Instead, the apparatus is just backed up and the opposite blade lowered to bury the cable or conduit on the side opposite where the cable or conduit was previously laid.
The blades are mounted on hydraulically-operated plow arms which swing outward from the railroad car and move the blades upward and downward. Additionally the plow arms are provided with rotating members which rotate the blades at an angle to the roadbed as well.
A primary disadvantage of these previous types of cable laying apparatuses with dual plow arms has been the necessity of removing the cutting blade from the plow arm in order to transport the track-mounted apparatus over long distances. There has been no way to transport the plow arm to different cable laying locations with the blade attached thereto.